Search

Assessing the effects of land use change on biodiversity has become a key issue for species conservation. Thus, it is necessary to analyze the configuration and composition of the landscape where a species occurs. The objective was to draw a profile of the forest remnants of the Atlantic Forest located in the south of Bahia state that present current and historical records of Crax blumenbachii. We analyzed fourteen areas using different spatial scales (patch scale, 500 m, 1 and 2 km) to calculate the total distance and distance from roads and rivers to the edge of the patch, percentage of area occupied by: forest, forest with cabrucas, cabrucas, pasture and agriculture; density of fragments and the proximity of these fragments to the edge of each patch, the area occupied by houses and their distance to the edge of the patch. We selected the 2 km scale to best describe the configuration and composition of the landscape. There are two profiles of areas with records of red-billed curassows: (1) areas with more forested landscapes, rivers and roads, low pasture/agriculture, and near human settlements, and (2) areas distant from houses, near roads and forest fragments. These features are related to areas with recent or historic records of red-billed curassows, and do not necessarily reflect habitat quality for the species.

Abstract This study investigated a candidate vaccine effect against maternal Trypanosoma cruzi (Tc) infection and improved pregnancy outcomes. For this, TcG2 and TcG4 were cloned in a nanoplasmid optimized for delivery, antigen expression, and regulatory compliance (nano2/4 vaccine). Female C57BL/6 mice were immunized with nano2/4, infected (Tc SylvioX10), and mated 7-days post-infection to enable fetal development during the maternal acute parasitemia phase. Females were euthanized at E12–E17 (gestation) days. Splenic and placental T-cell responses were monitored by flow cytometry. Maternal and placental/fetal tissues were examined for parasites by qPCR and inflammatory infiltrate by histology. Controls included age/immunization-matched non-pregnant females. Nano2/4 exhibited no toxicity and elicited protective IgG2a/IgG1 response in mice. Nano2/4 signaled a splenic expansion of functionally active CD4+ effector/effector memory (Tem) and central memory (Tcm) cells in pregnant mice. Upon challenge infection, nano2/4 increased the splenic CD4+ and CD8+T cells in all mice and increased the proliferation of CD4+Tem, CD4+Tcm, and CD8+Tcm subsets producing IFNγ and cytolytic molecules (PRF1, GZB) in pregnant mice. A balanced serum cytokines/chemokines response and placental immune characteristics indicated that pregnancy prevented the overwhelming damaging immune response in mice. Importantly, pregnancy itself resulted in a significant reduction of parasites in maternal and fetal tissues. Nano2/4 was effective in arresting the Tc-induced tissue inflammatory infiltrate, necrosis, and fibrosis in maternal and placental tissues and improving maternal fertility, placental efficiency, and fetal survival. In conclusion, we show that maternal nano2/4 vaccination is beneficial in controlling the adverse effects of Tc infection on maternal health, fetal survival, and pregnancy outcomes.